NBA Live 16 Playcalling and Defense Details

[Steve_OS]

EA Sports and the NBA Live 16 team have just released a blog on the new playcalling system, which includes a new Play Wheel for calling and selecting plays. The team also talks about improvements on defense, which promises better help defense, ball denial, and screen defense.

NEW PLAYCALLING SYSTEM

You’ll find a lot more plays for each team, and that gives you more choices to keep your opponent off-guard. With more plays at your fingertips, you’ll get new ways to choose which plays to run.

CHOOSE A QUICK PLAY

First, when bringing the ball up the court, you can press the LB/L1 button to run the CPU-recommended Quick Play. A prompt tells you which play will run if you use Quick Play. No guessing and hoping that you might get a play you like. You’ll know exactly which play will be run.

SPIN THE PLAY WHEEL

If you don’t like the Quick Play suggestion, hold down the LB/L1 button and bring up the new Play Wheel. Select a play based on the top five combinations of players and play types for the line up on the floor. Want to learn Westbrook’s pick and roll plays easier and faster? Just select them from the Play Wheel and learn how they run.

If you want to choose the exact play, you can access the whole playbook through the Play Wheel. Sort plays by play type and find the exact play that you’re looking for.

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS

You’ll spend half your time on defense, so we’ve improved the AI on that side of the ball as well. Improvements include better help defense, ball denial on the perimeter, and screen defense.

Help defense is at its best in NBA LIVE 16. No more just driving at the hoop for easy dunks and layups. If you can beat your defender, be prepared to be challenged at the rim. The defense also will rotate open to shut down any threats the ball carrier penetration causes. Be prepared to make that extra pass from the kick out to get an open shot.

WATCH YOUR THREAT

You’ll discover denying the ball to outside threats too. Off-ball defenders will make it tough for you to get open shots or even get the ball to your best shooters. Get up on an off-ball player as a user, and deny him with the LT/L2 button when near your man.

Defenders will also try to bump cutters on their way to the hoop to get the offense out of rhythm and deny open cuts to the basket. You will really have to work hard to get your best players open looks in this year’s game.

SLOW HIM DOWN

Screens are going to be tougher for you too. No longer can you just call a pick and easily attack the basket every single time down the court. The screener’s defender is a smarter and more active in defending the ball carrier. From hedging, to switching, trapping and icing a screen, the defenders will do a much better job of containing the pick and roll game.

Not only will the two defenders in the pick and roll play better defense, but the other three defenders will be more aware in taking away kick outs and helping out on the roller. You’ll also see players switch on off-ball screens when a threat may get open off of one.

[ThaLiveKing]

On break, I got something to read now lol.

And this game looks beautiful. Looks like they have the old Live 95 camera angle

[The 24th Letter]

Quote:

Help defense is at its best in NBA LIVE 16. No more just driving at the hoop for easy dunks and layups. If you can beat your defender, be prepared to be challenged at the rim. The defense also will rotate open to shut down any threats the ball carrier penetration causes. Be prepared to make that extra pass from the kick out to get an open shot.

That's what I like to hear.

[Tonyattia]

News!! I'm liking the wheel. Camera seems a little too zoomed out, and what is up with Lebron's legs when he's being guarded by Butler?? Maybe it's just the angle but Him and Kobe have screens of them with really skinny legs. Butlers legs looked fine though. Just happy they aren't done releasing non mode info


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[Tonyattia]

Lebron skipping leg day


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[cthurt]

Looks promising, everybody sporting the ankle socks in the pics is throwing me off a bit though, cool that they brought back the NBA Live 95 cam though nice vintage touch.


And good Lord Matt Barnes arms look huge in that pic, something is up with arms looking huge and legs looking skinny at certain angles.

[WTF]

Oh, I'm glad they finally showed the camera angle. This is easily my favorite angle in any bball game to date. It allows you to see the entire court when coming up the floor. I LOVED it.

The Quick Play button is awesome too. It picked the right plays, for the right scenarios too.

The Play calling wheel is a huge step in the right direction as well. Overall though, with as much as I enjoyed the quick play, I'll probably be using it 80% of the time.

Help defense, you'll see a ton of great Verticality type challenges, and the rotations are solid. The quick passing allows you to work the ball around for the open shot, which is excellent as well.

[ybtherockstar]

I really like the play wheel idea! Also like knowing that the CPU pick and roll defense improved. It's good in 15, but most of the time it can be easy to just use pick and roll to score. Great stuff.